


Balance

by suecsit



Category: Cobra Kai, The Karate Kid
Genre: M/M, playful dominant/submissive roles, slow burn leads to bonfire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-26
Updated: 2018-06-26
Packaged: 2019-05-29 01:36:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15062192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suecsit/pseuds/suecsit
Summary: Johnny and Daniel find their balance in each other.





	Balance

**Author's Note:**

> Come chat with me on Tumblr at counterbalanceandkairos. Thank you so much for reading and commenting--please, please keep doing so. I love to talk about these characters. 
> 
> This section really makes little sense unless you've read the previous episodes, particularly Robby 1 and 2.
> 
> Special thanks to one of the very earliest Lawrusso shippers gloryblastit who wrote "You're Pretty" on ff.net. Parts of this are in honor of her story:  
> https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2262238/1/You-re-Pretty

Daniel had a thought as he was pulled into the guest room. Maybe Johnny wanted to sleep with him at Miyagi’s for reasons that weren’t just superficially manipulative but more twisted and perverse. After all, Daniel had been a student here, first and foremost, obeying someone’s orders, even when he didn’t understand them. And now he was doing the same thing, only the circumstances were drastically different. 

Daniel thought he should be bothered, but even after the years of cracked ribs, bruises, cuts, and a damaged knee (one that still ached when it rained), he wasn’t. There had been plenty of opportunities for Johnny to dominate him in a way that was unhealthy, and he hadn’t seized on any of them. He flashed back: the pool, the beach, the dojo…all were places that Johnny earned his trust and showed him what it meant to give yourself to someone else without selling your soul. 

There had been two poles of behavior that governed Daniel’s life: absolute passivity in the form of following others, and the need for absolute control. The need for control came somewhere after Miyagi’s death and Sam’s decision to quit learning karate. The control also had its place in his affairs with other people. Rarely was Daniel “on the bottom” when he and his wife participated in Encino parties, which still occurred every now and again. As a salesman, Daniel had learned to treat the men and women he slept with as a form of customer, and he always wanted them to leave satisfied. 

Now it seemed he existed in the “in-between,” or the balance of control and submission. Johnny was leading now, but it was only because he had fully participated in the dance to begin with. He chose it, over and over again. He had a key, and he wasn’t afraid to use it.

He also knew well how easy it was to push Johnny’s buttons with sarcastic comments, and he did it anyway. He was afraid to fully consider why. 

The room had been swept and cleaned the past summer when Daniel had scoped the place out as a potential dojo for Robby and future students. He had thought the guest room would make a good changing or locker room, or, if the karate lessons didn’t work out, maybe even just a good place for a refugee from North Hills. He had entertained the thought of letting Robby stay in the room more permanently if he needed it. From the little Daniel gleaned about Robby’s past, he knew that his mother didn’t care about her son at all; she hadn’t shown at the tournament, and she never seemed to play any role in Robby’s conversations. The “absent father” played more of a role, even though it was a half-truth.

Johnny pushed Daniel playfully down on the cot, straddling him.

Daniel felt the weight, but it wasn’t a burden. It was more like that day Johnny held him tight when he panicked. “You’re heavier than you look, you know,” he said and smiled, letting Johnny settle on top of him.

Johnny leaned down to take Daniel’s wrists and place them over his head. He bent down to touch his lips to Daniel’s brow, caressing the skin with a feather-light touch that he continued on various parts of his cheek, his ear, nose, until all those parts had been thoroughly inspected. 

“You kiss like a girl,” Daniel said, but his breath became more erratic, and he found himself losing his bearings. The room was and wasn’t there. His life had or hadn’t moved on. He had no idea what year it was.

“Do I.” 

“I’m not complaining, it’s just different than you usually—ow!” Johnny pulled Daniel’s tee-shirt off a bit too harshly, catching his arms in it on the way. Once they were finally free, Daniel in turn pulled Johnny’s black gi up and off, struggling from his position to finish the act. Johnny pulled it off himself and tossed it to the side. 

Johnny leaned close. “That’s because it’s your first time, virgin…” he smirked. “I’ll be rougher next time.” He landed forward, and skin contacted skin. “If you want I can start now….”

Daniel felt a sharp nip at his neck, the teeth actually making contact there. He gasped and tried to move his arms to embrace the body on top of him, but Johnny kept a tight hold on his wrists. 

He wanted to hold Johnny against him so he could feel every muscle and every scar. This felt far more intimate than anything they had done before. He wanted to bury himself in the chest, make a home there, and never come out. He wanted to rub the scent of Johnny’s body all over his own, just because it meant that he could carry it with him. 

“Let me go so I can hold you,” he urged. 

“Is that what you want?” Johnny sat up and looked at Daniel, his eyes shining.

Daniel felt the grip loosen slightly as his vision swam. He had a slight case of vertigo, only it seemed to fade when he summoned the courage to speak and focused on Johnny’s face.

“I…what?”

“Tell me what you want.”

Their gaze met, and Daniel felt his face go red. The thought of admitting what he really wanted to a man who once knocked him off of a cliff and tried to break his leg was a little embarrassing. 

Johnny took pity on him and broke the silence. “If I let your hands go, are you going to try and take care of me?”

“I might.”

“Then can I keep them there?”

Daniel didn’t speak. Finally, he nodded his head, his neck and face now beet red.

“That’s better,” Johnny looked so satisfied with himself at that moment that Daniel wanted to crawl under the bed and die. He closed his eyes and sank into the mattress. 

Johnny’s mouth was suddenly everywhere—his shoulders, his ears, his nipples, his arms--and the hands held him fast through it. The way he mouthed at Daniel’s skin was almost frantic, rough. Daniel found himself responding the way a cat would to being petted, and he squirmed against Johnny’s grip. It would never be enough.

As if to prove a point, Johnny then claimed Daniel’s mouth in a kiss that was strong and unyielding, almost punishing. His arms trapped, Daniel leaned up as much as possible to meet the kiss, but Johnny pushed him back down into the mattress, holding him tight between the cushioned surface and his own body. There was a moment of claustrophobia, and then he felt like a puddle spilling over everything. 

Suddenly, his hands were free as Johnny made short work of his sweatpants and threw them on top of the tee shirts. Daniel thought, somewhat hysterically, that the room WAS a good place for changing clothes. He reached out to grab Johnny’s waist and take hold of the fabric there. 

“In a minute,” Johnny muttered, swatting the hand away. He claimed Daniel’s wrists again and held them beside his head. “I haven’t proven to you yet that I don’t kiss like a girl.” Johnny nipped at his ear lobe and then moved his tongue into the ear canal. 

“You did,” Daniel gasped. “I’m sorry. I call mercy, ok?” It was as if he could feel that tongue inside his mind now, exploring and rooting out all of the places he tried to keep hidden. His gasps now had sound and pitch that he tried to control but couldn’t. 

Johnny just laughed into his ear, the warm breath blowing through his mind and ventilating those hidden places. “You’re mine now,” he whispered. He sat up and regarded Daniel affectionately, watching him struggle to catch his breath and form more words. 

“And mercy is for the weak,” Johnny declared, and bit down on Daniel’s nipple. 

Daniel shouted out, the exclamation ending in a whimper as Johnny let go of his hands and found his erection. He stroked it once, then twice, watching Daniel’s expression as he took his time. “Johnny…” he whined. Everything was spiraling out of control.

The combination of lips on his chest and hands below made the surrender complete. “Please,” he said between clenched teeth. 

“Please what?”

They were suddenly sixteen again. Johnny smiled like he did when he saw Daniel sneak into Cobra Kai many years ago. “You know,” Daniel squirmed. “Stop torturing me.”

Johnny’s hand fondled Daniel’s balls. Daniel’s eyes rolled back in his head, and he clawed at his partner’s back, seeking something solid to hold on to.

“But it’s always been so much fun…” Johnny complained. He finally relented, letting his hand move farther back. 

Once Johnny pressed a finger inside, as if searching for something, Daniel grew still. Then his hands again reached for the drawstring on the man’s gi. “Please take them off,” he whispered.

Johnny withdrew his finger and helped Daniel push off the black pants. A small bottle of lube tumbled out of the pocket.

“Just how sure were you that you were getting lucky tonight?” he breathed. “Or do you just carry this with you all the time?”

Johnny didn’t respond. He only flipped the top and applied it liberally. “I’ve been carrying it for a while,” he admitted. He grabbed the pillow from underneath Daniel’s head and motioned for him to lift his hips. 

Daniel felt the cushion and then something else press against him. The feel of oil and the rush of giving in. His eyes grew wide and he took a deep breath. 

Johnny searched his face for answers. The confidence he had moments ago was fading just a little. Suddenly the gravity of the situation caught up with him, and it was dumbfounded to find himself there, about to penetrate a man he once wanted to destroy and humiliate. “If you want me to stop, you need to tell me now.” He felt Daniel’s leg muscles tense up and then relax. 

Daniel smiled at him. Unlike Johnny, he seemed enthralled but at peace. He lifted a hand and moved some of Johnny’s hair back from his forehead. “Haven’t wanted you to stop since you first kissed me. Even when you weren’t there….I’d dream about it.”

Just as he was that first night, Johnny was completely disarmed by the vulnerability and the trust. He sank into the body beneath him and was completely undone. The tightness was incredible. He felt like he was pushing through a part of himself rather than someone else. 

Daniel arched his neck, absorbing the pressure and closing his eyes. Johnny was grateful because there were tears in his own eyes, and the more he tried to blink them back the worse it got. For a moment he froze.

Daniel felt it and looked up. “Johnny?” he whispered. The other man didn’t answer but merely began pushing in and out, and Daniel moaned. The sound almost made Johnny break.

As the rhythm became faster, Johnny shook his head in disbelief, a tear or two falling on the body beneath him. “How are you letting me do this?” his voice unsteady. “It’s….I can’t….it’s too much.”

“Shhh,” Daniel said, his arms around Johnny’s neck pulling him in, comforting him even in the midst of the urgency and the impending orgasm. Daniel held him as close as he could, his hands on Johnny’s temples to press on the tears that he found there. “Because I love you,” he said, his voice straining. “I think I always….ahhhh…” 

Johnny felt his own release come as soon as his mind processed the words. Daniel’s followed immediately after.

They lay clenched in each other’s arms, gasping and trying to recover. It took a while before either could form words successfully.

Finally Johnny moved beside Daniel and burrowed his head in the man’s neck. He mumbled something.

Daniel’s hand came up to caress the head of blonde hair. “What?”

“I missed you so much,” he admitted, turning his head to the side. His hand moved to caress Daniel’s chest. “It was like I was split in half for thirty years.”

Daniel smiled to himself. “There were always car commercials.” He nudged Johnny playfully in the ribs.

“Larusso….just…no.” Johnny shuddered. “Those things gave me nightmares. They still do.” He wrapped his arms tighter around Daniel as if trying to keep monsters at bay. Like a little kid he was curled up, his hands still roaming and mapping the body beneath him, his head rising and falling slightly with every breath. 

Daniel chuckled. “Yeah, I know.”

“Daniel…”

“Hm?”

“I love you, too.” 

Daniel hugged him closer, trying to merge their forms into one because the feel of that skin was so addictive. The scent of it, the muscles under his hands…it made him feel slightly feral and unhinged. “I know. What’s not to love?”

“I do want to practice here, I swear.”

“Want to start this week?” Daniel continued to play with the hair in his fingers. Next week seemed like a year away. He wanted to stay where he was.

“Whenever you want, sensei,” Johnny replied. 

Daniel turned his head and kissed the top of Johnny’s. “That’s what I like to hear.”


End file.
